True Kindness
by Heroine of the Valley
Summary: I wrote this right after watching "Genius of Evil." It's basically Ken's afterthoughts of what happened on that episode. ^_^ Yay, Ken's a good guy now!!


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True Kindness

Disclaimer: I do not own digimon in anyway shape or form. This takes place soon after "Genius of Evil"

Ken had a few weird dreams. Mostly of himself as a child, growing up with his brother, Sam. Then his brother died. Ken saw the image of his old, mean, cruel self. Then himself of the Digimon emperor. He didn't want to be either, because it really wasn't him at all. He saw Sam standing between his old self and the digimon emperor image. 

"Be yourself, Kenny-Boy," Sam said.(Have you noticed that Sam looks a lot like Ken's Digimon Emporer self? Hmmm…) "You just be Ken." Then just like that, Sam and the two images disappeared.

Ken woke up and rubbed his head. Unlike the first time he came home and slept for hours and hours, he didn't sleep much. He just laid there and thought about his past and his future. He was happy to be home and too excited to spend another moment sleeping. A smile appeared on his face and he began to climb down the ladder and then stopped. Instead, he grabbed the railing and flipped over it, landing on his feet. He always wanted to do that. It was pretty quiet inside, except for when he opened the door and saw his father eating breakfast and getting ready to work, afraid that he might be late.

"Morning, Dad," Ken said.

"Morning, Ken," he said back, rushing back and forth, "hey, why are you up so early?"

"I think I had enough rest," Ken said with a sweet big smile. He then looked at his watch, "you can slow down a bit Dad, you won't be late."

"I have half an hour to get there, son."

"And it just takes ten minutes for you to get to the office."

Ken's father smiled and put his hands on his hips, "I know, but if I stay any minute and I don't leave early, I will probably forget that I had to go in today!" he looked at his watch and then ran for the door, forgetting his briefcase.

Ken sighed and picked it up and held it out next to the door. A second later his father came in, grabbed it and thanked Ken. Ken decided to surprise his mother and make her breakfast in bed. He made her eggs, bacon and some orange juice. He opened the door and set the tray on her nightstand. "Mom, wake up."

She yawned, "what is it, sweetie?"

"I made you breakfast!"

"But, it's not my birthday." She raised her eyebrow, "oh, honey, you didn't have to do that."

"I wanted too. Besides, I should learn how to cook anyway." 

"You're so kind, Ken."

Ken blushed, "yeah…I'm going to go for a walk now. It's nice out." 

"Don't forget to eat anything!" she called after him as she sipped her orange juice, "mmm, this is good!"

Hearing his mother's words, Ken made a piece of toast and ate it as he changed into a white T-shirt with a red circle (hey, that's the flag of Japan!) and blue jeans. He was tired of wearing that same gray outfit. It was something Sam wore. Ken loved Sam, but Sam was Sam and Ken was Ken. Ken wanted to be himself and he just liked to wear simple fun clothes, like T-shirts and jeans. He picked up a purple baseball cap. It was the one Sam gave him on Ken's birthday, the last birthday he shared with him before Sam's accident.

"Don't go without me!" Leafmon begged, hopping down from the bed.

Ken picked him up, "don't worry! We've both been inside too long. And leaves need sunlight anyway!" Ken started to chuckle. It was the sweetest chuckle ever heard. He hasn't chuckled like that before. Not sense he became the digimon emperor. His smiles, his laughs, his grins, his chuckles and faces were all scary and evil and angry. But now, he had nothing to be angry about anymore. He was a new person now. He picked up his backpack and placed Leafmon inside, with the top half open so he could breath and be able to see a bit of outside.

With his hands in his pockets, Ken walked down the streets. It seemed to him like his first time outside. He was asleep for a long time. It was just a few hours but it almost seemed like years to his parents. He remembered all the fun times he had when he was a kid. If only he could go back to those days.

Ken saw bubbles fly past his face, breaking his thoughts. Ken turned his head to the direction they were coming from. A little girl was blowing bubbles. She started to blow another one but it popped. "Oh, rats," she mumbled. "I can't get them right."

"Sure you can," Ken said, walking to the girl. "You blew them fine just a second ago. What you did was just blow too hard. You got to blow it gentle."

"Can you show me?" she asked, handing him the straw and the glass of water.

Ken hesitated. It's been a very long time since he blew bubbles. And he lost his gentleness and kindness. He forgotten how to be gentle. He was living inside a bubble for a long time. And it popped when he realized all the mean things he had done. But he's not the digimon emperor anymore and he found Leafmon and soon he'll see Wormmon again.

"Please?" she repeated.

He nodded and took the glass and straw. He moved the straw around and put the end to his mouth. _Here goes nothing,_ he thought and began to blow. The girl gasped as she watched Ken blow. The bubble began to get bigger and bigger. _Don't pop, don't pop, don't pop…_Ken kept thinking as the bubble grew. He finished the big bubble. It didn't pop. 

Leafmon peaked through the hole, _oh, pretty!_ He thought.

He blew a bunch of smaller bubbles and then handed it back to her. "See? Nothing to it!"

"Well, I'll try," she mumbled and placed the straw back to her lips. She blew a few small bubbles and they didn't pop. "Wow, I did it! Thanks!"

"You're welcome," Ken smiled and continued to walk off. He pointed what he could remember to Leafmon. Just a few buildings. Ken forgotten his home. _Had I really been asleep that long? _He thought. Ken looked down to see a little puppy licking his shoe. It was the same puppy he saw before when he was returning from school one day. The puppy just wanted a little love but Ken frightened it away. "Hi," Ken whispered with a smile.

The puppy looked up and recognized Ken. It had the same innocent sweet eyes that reminded Ken of Wormmon. It whimpered and sank away from Ken.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you," Ken said to it. His smile disappeared and then a sad pathetic frown took over.

The puppy backed away even more and hid behind a trashcan. Ken remembered all the digimon. The way the all cowered to him. Ken was less than human. He wasn't just the digimon emperor, he was a digimon beater. A monster to the digital monsters.

Ken took a few small steps toward it and knelt down. "Please don't run away. I promise I won't call the pound." He held his hand out for the puppy to sniff it. "Come on, I won't hurt you. C'mere little fella."

The puppy cocked its head at Ken and took three steps toward Ken and then a step back. It cocked its head again with a small whimper. 

Ken kept beckoning to the small creature. "Come here, boy…"

Three steps forward, one back. Three steps forward, one back. The puppy acted like he wanted to sniff Ken's hand, but it was still afraid from it's previous experience with Ken. Ken's hand was just two more steps away. 

Ken wasn't going to back up or move forward. He didn't want to leave the puppy alone nor invade its space. Instead, he stayed right where he was until the puppy felt like he could move closer to him.

One more step forward. A half step forward. An anxious murmur escaped Ken's mouth. "That's it, that's it."

A half step back and Ken's heart sank lower than the puppy or any digimon ever had. 

A half step forward and the puppy started to sniff Ken's hand. Ken laughed and Leafmon poked his head out to see what he was laughing about. After the puppy finished sniffing his hand, he began to lick it. It gave a playful bark and then ran around Ken. It put his forepaws forward and held his rear in the air, in a cute playful manner. (You know how dogs get when they feel like playing.) It danced back and forth with more playful barks and then jumped into Ken's arms.

"I think I'll take you with me," Ken said, holding it out in front of him, inches from his face. He started talking in cute-puppy-baby talk. (Have ever seen the movie _As Good as It Gets? _I love that part when Jack Nickleson picks it up and says "don't you be like me…") "A cute thing like you doesn't deserve to be out on these streets." He laughed more as the puppy yipped and began licking his face and nose. "Oh, you're so cute, yes you are."

Ken heard familiar voices coming from a few blocks away. He followed them and found Davis and the others. Davis looked a bit peeved about something. Ken smiled and hid behind a tree as he watched what was going on. "Hey, I know them." He whispered to himself, "but, how??"

"Sorry I'm late, my sister hid my goggles!" he explained.

"They're actually Tai's goggles," Kari reminded him.

"Is that the only reason why you're late, Mr. Mary Kay?" Yolei demanded with a hand on her hip.

"Huh?" he mumbled.

With her freehand, Yolei took Davis', "found a new hobby?"

"Whoa, no way!" He blurted.

TK and Cody began to howl with laughter.

"It's not funny, TS! You too, Cody! It's not funny at all!"

It made Cody and TK laugh all the harder.

"Relax, it's nothing, Davis," Kari said to him.

"Nothing? Nothing?!" Davis gasped, holding out both hands, "does this look like nothing to you!? I have bright pink finger nails!!!!"

"I know," Yolei chuckled, covering her mouth, "I think bright ruby red is more your color! Ha--ha-ha!!"

Now the whole crowd was laughing, including their digimon. Davis heard a few rumbles in his backpack. Davis reached in and pulled out DemiVeemon. "Something funny, DV?"

"Um, no," he choked back his laughter.

"Man, I can't believe this! Jun painted my fingernails in my sleep! She is so gonna pay for this!"

"Yeah, tell her not to forget your toenails!" Cody chided.

"Hey, knock it off!" Davis snapped. He wrenched his hands into tight fists, "arghhh!! My sister gets on my nerves! I wish Jun could just DISAPEAR!!"

Ken gasped at those words. They sounded familiar. "I wish Sam could just disappear!" Then he remembered just who those kids were. They were digidestined and he was supposed to be with them. Ken put the puppy down after petting it's head softly and then placed his backpack next to it. Ken walked right up to Davis, grabbed him and flipped him over his back. 

"It's Ken!" Yolei cried, clasping her hands together, "oh, he's so cute!"

"Hi Ken, glad to see you back," TK said.

Meanwhile, as everyone was saying their hellos to Ken, Davis still laid flat on his back. "Ugh, whatever happened to the crest of kindness?"

"Kindness? You should talk!" Ken shouted, pointing his finger at Davis, "what were you thinking, wishing something like that?"

"Davis doesn't get along with his sister very well," Cody explained.

"That's no excuse!" Ken muttered, "be careful what you wish for, Davis, because you just might get it!! I sure got my wish and look what happened to me!"

"Huh?" Davis groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Remember my brother I told you about? He was a real genius. You think I'm a genius, well Sam was a greater genius than I ever was. He got all the attention. Everyone liked him more than me." Ken sniffed, "then I wished that Sam would just disappear. And guess what happened…I never saw my brother again!"

"Gee, Ken," Davis mumbled, "I'm sorry. I didn't know it happened that way."

"I didn't get along with my brother very well either, but he was still my brother!" Ken told him. "That's the way with brothers and sisters. Sometimes they fight but they are supposed to love each other."

"That's right, Davis," TK said, "you should be grateful you at least live under the same roof with your sister."

Ken raised his eyebrow and looked at TK, "what's your story?"

"My parents were divorced. My mom and I moved away and I didn't see Matt or my dad for a long time. It was so hard."

"Man, I'm sorry." Ken muttered.

"Well, at least you've moved back here, TK," Kari said, trying to make him feel better.

TK sighed, "yeah, but it's not the same. You and Tai have a good relationship. You get along."

Ken smiled, "Yeah, he's the best big brother in the whole world!"

"Hey, Matt's a rock star!" TK grunted, pointing at Kari and then pushing his thumb into his chest. "So to _me_ he's the best!"

Kari looked at TK and giggled. He giggled right back.

Ken helped Davis up. "Sorry, I hope I didn't break anything."

"I'll be fine," Davis muttered. "I guess I needed a little wakeup call."

"Yeah, I know how that feels," Ken nodded.

"Davis, Davis!" a teenage girl with blackish-blue hair in a ponytail ran to him, waving her hand.

"Who's that?" Cody asked.

"One of Jun's friends," Davis explained, "what's up, Danni?"

Danni caught her breath, "your sister's been in an accident!"

"Oh no!" Davis gasped. "What happened?"

"We were just hanging out at Hannah's place when the fire started. A fuse had blown out. We all got out through the fire escape while Hannah was trying to find the extinguisher but she got lost, so your sister went in after her. I tried to stop her but Jun wouldn't listen to me!" Danni sniffed, "if it weren't for your sister, Hannah wouldn't have survived!"

"Is she alright?" Davis demanded, "is Jun going to be okay?"

Danni was quiet, "I'm not exactly sure. She's in the hospital still and I haven't been able to see her yet. All the others are still there waiting to see her."

"Well, let's go! My parents will think this is all my fault!"

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"Jun, Jun!" Davis hollered, running down the hospital halls. "Excuse me, Doctor, can I see my sister, Jun Motimiya?"

"Well, son, it's hard to say. She's it sort of bad shape."

Davis gasped and covered his face with his hands, "man, I'm such a jerk!"

Another Doctor walked beside the other. "Excuse me, you're Jun Motimiya's brother?"

Davis nodded.

"Your sister was very brave to go in after her friend. I normally don't see a lot of heroes in this hospital. Usually kids who think they're daredevils."

Davis sniffed. _Wow, I guess Jun is cooler than I thought. If only I gave her a real chance. _"Well, can I see her?"

The doctor smiled and nodded, "yes. She made it out just fine and her friend too. Both only suffered by mild burns. Your sister is a bit worn out because there was too much smoke but she'll be fine in a day or too." He lead Davis to a room and opened the door for him. His sister sat up in bed looking herself in a mirror.

"I look awful," she muttered.

"Well, there's been days where you've looked a lot better, that's for sure." Davis answered bluntly.

She leaned back, "where's Mom and Dad?"

"I dunno. Are you okay?"

"I feel like a burnt piece of toast," she admitted, "but other than that I'm fine."

Davis laughed a bit, "sorry I've been such a lousy brother."

"You're not lousy, Davis. I'm the one who's lousy."

"Hey, you risked your life to save Hannah. That's not lousy, that's, that's cool! You'll be a celebrity and everyone will want your autograph and people will come to the house and...wait...maybe Kari will like me!" Davis stood up and threw his arms in the air, "Yahooo!"

Jun laughed and picked up her lucky T-shirt with all signatures of cute boys. "There's no one cuter than my brother and you still need to sign this."

"Me, cute?" Davis mumbled, he chuckled, "wow, thanks!" he scribbled his name. "Now your shirt is very lucky!"

They both began laughing. It was the first time they shared a real laugh together.

"Um, Jun?" Davis began.

"Yeah, Davis?" she asked.

"Do you have some fingernail polish remover?" he asked, "bright pink isn't really my color."

She smiled, "okay, I bet one of the nurses have some."

"Or you can at least paint them a different color." He looked his fingernails over, "I'm starting to get used to them. I think I'm more of a wine or burgundy…maybe a red. A hot flaming red-orange…yeah…oh, or blue, blue thundery blue…"

"I have lots of different colors at home, take your pick!"

Ken peeked through the door and smiled at the others, "I guess Davis realizes just how important a brother or sister really is." He heard noises in his backpack and he pulled out the puppy and Leafmon. 

"OH, how cute--both of them--so cute!" Yolei gasped. 

"That's Leafmon, the baby form of Wormon," Patamon informed the others, "I knew he really wasn't gone!"

"What are you going to name the puppy, Ken?" Cody asked.

"I think I'll name him…Sam." Ken said.

"Sam, isn't that the name of your brother?" Kari asked, petting the puppy.

Ken nodded, "yeah, but that's how Sam would want it." (Sam was the first thing that came to mind. I didn't want to put something like "Fido" or "Max" or something like that. Got a better idea?)

"I guess it fits," Kari said.

"Welcome to our group, Ken," TK said, holding his hand out to shake his.

Ken remembered when he got in a fight with TK. He rubbed his cheek where TK hit him. Ken was a master in Judo, he could've taken TK out easily. But he lost, somehow. TK was tougher. Actually, it was as though Ken wanted to lose. Ken smiled and shook TK's hand, "thanks, pal."

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The End


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